2006 NWI's BASEBALL Week-6, Top-10

GRIFFITH (5-12-2006) - It's tournament time in the Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) beginning on May 15 and the Porter County Conference (PCC) on May 20 but don't get used to these playoffs. More than one coach has said that there when the LAC splits into three different groups after the 2007 season, there will be no league tournament, at least not among the large group including KV, Andrean, Griffith, Munster, Highland, Hobart and Lowell. The most obvious reason is the number of teams. There simply are no good seven team tourney formats that don't give one team a huge advantage.

This is not a new proposal, but with 24 teams in Lake County, a tourney format is possible giving the eight seeded schools a first round bye and matching the other 16 in the first of five rounds. An alternative plan could be to match up two tiers of 12 team playoffs (big and small schools) with four first round byes. The reason you want tournaments, other than the stone boredom of a double round robin, is to play extra games. The reason for the seemingly nonsensical series of consolation games in the present 16-team LAC party is that everybody gets four games that are scheduled for them. I also believe that any tournament counts as two games... so you get four for the price of two.

The real problem in Indiana prep baseball is the limited season. A few years back, the IHSAA decided that all state tournaments must end by the middle of June, which led to the crushing of the traditional four week state tournament into three weeks. The argument that the IHSAA wants kids to go home and start the summer is a little odd since they allow the football season to continue to creep up into mid-August. Football, a revenue sport, is simply more important than baseball in the eyes of the IHSAA. When football started on the Labor Day weekend (as it did for decades), there was no problem with running baseball through June.

The solution is obvious. Four weeks of playoffs and end the baseball tournament in the last week of June. Clearly there are no baseball coaches on the IHSAA board. The last IHSAA baseball format change which jams six playoff games in 10 days and then gives the finalist a vanity week off so they can use their No. 1 starter in the state title game is insane from a baseball standpoint and about as popular as Barry Bonds.

To play the regional and the semistate in the SAME WEEK forces teams to use their No. 1 starting pitcher four times in 12 days. It also makes the entire tourney vulnerable to rain on sectional championship day. A sectional title day monsoon (some schools without lights play the sectional semifinals and finals on the same Saturday) would squeeze those games up against the now-Tuesday regional finals and effectively blow up the tournament from a pitching standpoint. It hasn't happened yet, but I can almost guarantee that it will.

I'd also favor an expansion of the season to a maximum of 36 games in the present 12 weeks. You do not have to schedule all 36 but you can if you want to. Almost every state in the union allows more prep baseball games than Indiana does, but that isn't something that's peculiar to Hoosier baseball. Indiana also allows fewer basketball games (20) that almost any other state and the soccer limit (16) is unexplainable.

Basketball gets four months and football has 16 weeks, about two too many. The IHSAA still treats baseball like an albino stepchild that they only want to let out in the sun for a few weeks. With the sport handcuffed at the start by March weather and handcuffed at the end by an arbitrary IHSAA date limitation, baseball will always be a second tier sport until new blood and different thinking takes over.

The bottom line is, Indiana is still stuck 25 years behind the times where prep sports is concerned. The IHSAA, bless their 'good old boy' souls, has an innate inability to progress. But that's Indiana in a nutshell. That's why Gomer Pyle (Shazzam! It's Jim Nabors) sings every year at the Indy 500.

The leaders in northern conferences are Merrillville (17-2), with a two-game lead in the DAC. Griffith is trying to hold a slim lead on Andrean in the LAC Black. Clark has a two-game lead over surprising Whiting in the LAC Blue. New Prairie had a one game lead over Jimtown at the start of the week in the Northern States Conference. Elkhart Memorial (17-4), which will play at Crown Point on May 26, has a two-game lead in the Northern Lakes Conference and Penn (15-3) had three-game lead with just four games to play in the Northern Indiana Conference.

Note to the LAC and PCC: You need to announce your baseball tournament pairings and not just let them slip out as if they were leaks from the Bush White House.

Downstate, the 3A polls will shake up after the match of Jasper (18-0) and Vincennes Lincoln (18-0) on Wednesday, May 10. The state 4A poll could also change after No. 1 Carmel (19-1) plays a double-header with No. 5 Terre Haute North (18-4) on Saturday, May 13.

1.) 3A Griffith (16-5)

19-15 in 2005, 19-14 in 2004, 17-12 in 2003

GRIFFITH - The Panthers have maintained some quality through the year behind the bats of Ryan Bridges (22-58, .466), Trent Bierman (23-54, .426) and Brian Bell (27-65, .416). Pitchers Matt Kuna (4-1, 2.15 ERA) and Matt Nelleman (5-0, 2.60 ERA) has gotten help from lefty Will Frets (3-2, 2.45 ERA, 21Ks, just 5 walks in 28 innings) and they have some depth heading into next week's LAC tournament.

But the question still stands. Who is Tyler Louiveir (3-0, 1.50 ERA) and how do you spell his name?

Seriously, this team has lost to Whiting (14-5), Munster, Chesterton, North Judson (15-4) and Andrean (16-5), all but one of them winning teams. The Panthers lost 4-3 to Andrean last week, but they'll get a rematch in the LAC tournament.

They won't see Whiting, North Judson, Chesterton or Munster in the state tournament. Griffith stomped Bishop Noll 14-2 Monday and rolled up 12 hits.

In baseball, if you are playing a good schedule and you win three out of every four games, barring injury, you don't really have a problem. That's where Griffith is at right now.

The Panthers just need to keep scouting Clark and Andrean, keep their mouths shut and let everybody else talk.

Griffith catcher Trent Bierman during the Panthers' 3-0 shutout of Crown Point, Sat, 4-15-2006.

ST. JOHN - I believe that LC was 14-5 starting this week. They had a scheduled game at Michigan City last week that went unreported, except on the LC web site where the 7-2 victory was noted. That's not a shock, as the home team turns the details into the paper and sometimes Michigan City does not send in results. Every school should keep a web site with all baseball results and details but few do. High schools sports, to a great extent, is a self-centered entity. Most schools just don't think telling others how they're doing is worth the effort and time it would take. Somebody at LC doesn't feel that way.

LC has played 19 games and they have scored four or more runs in 17 of them. That's why they are here this high in the poll. Junior Brad Gerlach pitched a strong three-hit shutout against Crown Point and intriguing lefty Scott Handley struck out seven in a complete game against Portage. The state tourney requires pitching depth and LC seems to have it.

The Indians stopped Merrillville 7-5 Tuesday with two homers from Ryan Frost and that's not really a surprise, because LC has a better team than Merrillville. They also have catcher and No. 3 hitter Brett Clark (24-62, .452, 7 HRs, 22 RBIs), a lineup anchor few can match. This team should go strong to the wire and, while they might be vulnerable to a hard-throwing lefty, LC is the sectional favorite.

MERRILLVILLE - Andrean turned back Crown Point 7-3 Saturday after dropping the 'big one' on Munster 13-2 last week. The Niners raked in a 12-2 win over Kankakee Valley Monday behind three hits and four RBIs from Joe Mack (28-50, .560). He's not going to steal bases but 280-pound designated-hitter Eddie Reardon (15-35, .429) is a core hitter. Chris DeGuilio (5-1) and Kevin Mackin (4-1) form a strong pitching core and freshman Adam Norton (3-1) allowed Griffith just three hits in a 4-3 victory.

Mack and senior Chris Skinner (22-52, .412, 21 stolen bases) are core leaders, but this team still needs to build confidence and recent scores suggest they're doing that. The wild card is Norton (29-50, .580). Nobody knows what he can do. The window of opportunity for beating up on Andrean may have passed in the night. Here's the favorite for the LAC tournament next week.

4.) 4A CROWN POINT (13-8)

21-12 in 2005, 17-11 in 2004, 22-10 in 2003

CROWN POINT - Crown Point lost 6-3 to Valparaiso and 7-3 to Andrean to continue a slump which saw them lose 8-of-14 and look weak doing it. But a 16-5 rout of LaPorte Tuesday may have signaled a turnaround.

CP's Matt Jansen pitched a 2-1 victory over Chesterton last week, but Chris Saroff and Blake Mascarello were not sharp in the losses to Valpo and Andrean. Three homers and 16 runs is a season-high for a team that had not been hitting. No one seriously thinks teams like Clark and Whiting are better than CP despite records or the local knee-jerk newspaper polls.

CP has apparently lost right-hander Tommy Wise (3-1), a key starting pitcher, for the season and he was one of the few seniors on the squad. But Matt Jansen (5-2) pitched a two-hitter Tuesday and CP is deep in pitching, so Wise's loss should not stop them. It's all about offense. Even after Tuesday's win, they have scored 46 runs in 11 league games (4.1) and that's not enough. High school teams need to average a minimum of five runs a game.

What the Bulldogs need to do is to score a lot of runs the rest of the way starting with Monday's (rain-rescheduled from Thursday) game against league-leading Merrillville (17-3).

Crown Point pitcher Chris Saroff on mound at Griffith, 4-15-2006.

5.) 4A MERRILLVILLE (17-3)

12-15 in 2005, 16-11 in 2004, 7-20 in 2003

MERRILLVILLE - The Pirates were slowed 7-5 at Lake Central Tuesday, but everybody's going to lose a half dozen games. The Pirates didn't play well last week, edging Lowell 3-2 and Michigan City 7-6. You get the feeling they've peaked and it is a big worry that a slide might be coming.

What has gone unnoticed is Merrillville's margin of error. The Pirates are 4-1 in 2-run games and 4-1 in one run games and, while that speaks well of the pitching, it does not speak well of the Pirate offense. The Pirates have outscored 20 foes by a combined score of 105-48. That's a great defensive resume but 105 runs is not that many. Merrillville had a great streak, but as we said last week, there's a long leap between a great streak and a great team.

The state tourney format may require six games in 12 days. Merrillville does not have that type of pitching. The Pirates need to score a lot a lot more runs, especially against sectional rivals like Crown Point, who they face Monday, May 15 in a rescheduled date that was washed out last Thursday. When some body tells you that pitching and defense wins, remind them how they only count runs on the scoreboard. Merrillville has to go get some.

Merrillville's senior Bo McClendon (No. 2) is congratulated after scoring by fellow senior Adrian Gober (No. 3) earlier this season at the US. Steelyard.

LaPORTE - The Slicers simply may have shown up in Crown Point on the wrong night, losing 16-5 Tuesday (5-9-2006). LaPorte is coasting towards that 20-win season again with senior all-stater Nick Overmeyer (32-71, .451) and the double-Matt format of Matt Antos (6-3, 2.03 ERA) and Matt Elliott (5-1, 3.43 ERA) has been surprisingly effective on the mound. LaPorte has not real strikeout pitchers but the defense has been almost error-free. The Slicers only have four batters hitting above .300 though and that lack of offense may catch up to them.

The Slicers may have been a tad lucky to rally from a 5-2 deficit Saturday to win 7-5 at Clay (11-5). With six home games left, LaPorte is still on-line to win 20 for an Indiana record 40th consecutive season but this is not the dominating team they've had the last two years. Not yet.

Down the stretch, the Slicers will roll up wins on wanna-bes like Clark (17-3), but they won't see anybody who can help them get ready for teams like Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) champion Penn (15-3) or Northern Lakes Conference champion Elkhart Memorial (17-5) at regional time. LaPorte has had, what for them, is an adequate 2/3 of the season.

But if you think I can tell you the future for a team that defeated Lake Central 13-0 and 10 days later lost to Crown Point 16-5, when CP (13-8) and LC (15-5) split their two meetings, you're looking into the wrong crystal ball.

VALPARAISO - The Vikings won a big one, 6-3 over Crown Point, but the Vikings then lost a double-header Saturday (5-6-2006) 2-1 and 8-1 to 1A superpower Lafayette Catholic (15-3). Clint Krysa (3-4) got the win against CP with lefty Chooch Sizemore (5-2, 1.42 ERA) getting his second save. Sizemore pitched a two-hitter the next day but lost 2-1 to Lafayette ace Sam Walker (5-0). I'd write off the Saturday losses as good experience against a better team.

Here's the fallacy in just looking at wins and losses. Lafayette Catholic is the dominant small school in the northern half of the state with a 121-33 record (28-5 last year) in the last five years and three state finals' berths.

Sizemore (28-61, .459) has continued to hit and senior shortstop Jamie Smith handled nine chances against CP. The No. 3 pitcher is still a mystery and they will need one at sectional time. There is a fear of them wearing out Sizemore, who pitched again Tuesday and lost 5-3 to Chesterton and Danny Lambert. Valpo may be pitching Sizemore too much, but they wouldn't' do it if they had a reliable No. 3.

HAMMOND - The Warriors took one on the chin 14-2 Monday against Griffith and there were some defensive problems. Noll apparently split two games in the Plymouth Invitational over the weekend although, again, no scores were reported anywhere locally.

Noll jumped on Lowell 8-1 Thursday as Danny Faulkner had a double and a home run. Noll is looking for starting pitching behind Faulkner and Jimmy Flores and I'm not sure if it's Trevor Lee (2-3) or not. Lee struck out eight and walked seven in the loss to Griffith. Jim Bowers fanned seven in a 7-3 win over Marquette Tuesday to remain over .500.

This team seems destined to finish at .500 and they don't have the pitching to survive the long LAC tournament next week. But it's all about Hanover Central (9-6), Wheeler (14-7) and Boone Grove (16-3) in what suddenly seems to be a very competitive sectional.

MUNSTER - Munster broke a three-game losing streak with wins over Kankakee Valley 11-7 and Lowell 11-5. Pete Jurich had a homer and five RBIs Monday and Tim Lukoshus (3-1) won despite allowing the Devils 11 base hits. The Mustangs allowed 55 runs in a seven-game span and it's surprising they still have a winning record. But if they continue to display the type of offense they have shown, it will cover up more problems than Brittney Spears' publicist.

PORTER TOWNSHIP - Boone Grove rolled over the field at the South Central Classic and stomped Morton 15-5 Tuesday. The LAC is highly publicized in NW Indiana, but some of them apparently can't hang with Boone Grove which has 10-runned both Munster and Morton. Boone also nipped Kouts 3-1 Monday as righty Kyle Ferber (4-1, 1.25 ERA, 45Ks in 35 innings) allowed just five hits and two walks in seven innings. Jim Kulchar (19-45, .422) and Drew Kidd (26-58, .448) have both been over .400 all year and the Wolves have not lost two games in a row.

Boone has outscored the opposition 173-61, a robust 9.1 runs scored per game. How can Boone be 5-1 against 4A schools (with Valparaiso and Hobart left) and have nobody notice?

CHESTERTON - The Trojans had nine hits in a 5-3 win over rival Valpo Tuesday despite four errors. Lefty John Lambert (2-4) struck out seven in a complete game and outfielder Zack Novak was 3-for-4. I'm wondering where are the other games on this schedule? The Trojans surely have some heavy weekends down the stretch and they may still hit a winning streak. They have the pitching.

HAMMOND - More no-contest action for the Pioneers, including a 14-3 win over Wheeler Tuesday (5-9-2006) after a 13-1 romp over Lake Station. Soph Trent Howard allowed four hits and five walks in five innings, but he did not need to be better. Monday, Clark stomped on Calumet 14-4 behind Ryan Kananowicz, who pitched four of the six innings. Clark is 14-0 in the LAC Blue and that, along with 50 cents, won't get you the USA Today newspaper.

As they progress in the LAC tournament, we will again be inundated with another barrage of "we don't get no respect" Clark comments. I've said this before but as long as you are still complaining about not being considered that good, then you aren't that good. Once you have established yourselves, you must stop crying poor mouth. That has been a Clark trait.

Permission to speak freely, captain? The Pioneers do not benefit from playing virtually the same schedule they played 20 years ago in every sport. They NEVER leave the region for a game. There is a Baseball Coaches' association web site that posts teams that need games. Its been there for a few years. The site exists so that teams can put together late season games to make up for non conference rainouts or holes in the schedule. Benton Central, for example, has a one-day four-team single-elimination tournament on May 20 with Mishawaka and Western. Two 3As and a 4A. Anybody can get in for just making the call. There's a dozen opportunities like this and all coaches know about this site.

The point is, schools can play as tough a schedule as they want to play. The argument that 'We have not control over our schedule' is as lame as that kid in the minor leagues who threw the bat and said 'he didn't mean to hit the umpire with it.'

But the Pioneers do get outside the metropolitan Wolf Lake area annually for one week. Clark does play Crown Point (13-8) on May 18 and at LaPorte (16-6) on May 23. They will get their chance to stack up. It doesn't matter if Clark gets bombed on these days. They need to play top teams like this and six more like them to prove they are as good as they think they are.

2006 - Week-6, Top-10

High School Baseball Teams in

Northwest Indiana